Effects of Sr2+ substitution on the crystal structure, Raman spectra, bond valence and microwave dielectric properties of Ba3-xSrx(VO4)2 solid solutions

The effects of Sr2+ substitution for Ba2+ on microwave dielectric properties and crystal structure of Ba3-xSrx(VO4)2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 3, BSVO) solid solution were investigated. Such Sr2+ substitution contributes to significant reduction in sintering temperature from 1400 °C to 1150 °C. Both permittivity (∑r) and quality factor (Q × f) values decreased with increasing x value, which was determined to be related with the descending values of average polarizability and packing fraction, whereas the increase in τf value was explained by the decreased average VO bond length, A-site bond valence. BSVO ceramics possessed encouraging dielectric performances with ∑r = 12.2–15.6 ± 0.1, Q × f = 44,340 - 62,000 ± 800 GHz, and τf = 24.5–64.5 ± 0.2 ppm/°C. Low-temperature sintering was manipulated by adding B2O3 as sintering additive for the representative Sr3V2O8 (SVO) ceramic and only 1 wt.% B2O3 addition successfully contributed to a 21.7% decrease in sintering temperature to 900 °C, showing good chemical compatibility with silver electrodes, which render BSVO series and SVO ceramics potential candidates in multilayer electronic devices fabrication.